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NYCC ’10 | The Walking Dead to become a trilogy of novels

The Walking Dead, the acclaimed horror series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, will move from comics to television to prose.

Deadline reports that Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin’s Press, will publish a trilogy of original novels set in The Walking Dead “universe,” beginning in 2011. Kirkman will conceptualize and outline the books, which will then be developed by horror novelist Jay Bonansinga (Perfect Victim, Shattered).

The novels will mark the second time the world of The Walking Dead has appeared in prose: Kirkman contributed a short story, “Together, Alone,” to the zombie-fiction anthology The Living Dead 2, published last month.

AMC’s adaptation of The Walking Dead debuts on Oct. 31. Issue 78 of the Image Comics series, which Deadline says has sold about 3 million copies worldwide, is due in stores next week.